France’s L’Occitane seeks $810m from IPOHONG KONG: French cosmetics group L’Occitane is seeking to raise up to $810 million in its initial public offering in Hong Kong next month, a report said.
Last month L’Occitane said it hoped to raise $300 million from the
May 7 IPO, after it won the Hong Kong exchange’s approval to become the first French company to list in the city.
Dow Jones Newswires quoted a source as saying that the company would offer 364.1 million shares at between
12.88-15.08 Hong Kong dollars each.
The IPO’s base deal was expected to raise $705 million, the source was quoted as saying, with an option to increase the size of the deal by 15 percent, to raise up to $810 million.
The report quoted the source as saying that L’Occitane had also won a pledge from the China Investment Corporation, China’s $300 billion sovereign-wealth fund, to take a $50 million stake in the IPO. The company kicked off a road show for institutional investors in Hong Kong last Monday, and a spokeswoman told AFP it would hold a news conference on April 25 to announce further details of the IPO.
Proceeds of the IPO will be used to expand the brand’s presence in high-growth emerging markets such as
China, Brazil, Russia, India and Mexico, according to a preliminary prospectus posted to the stock exchange. The company also plans to capture the international market for organic cosmetics with its newly acquired brand Melvita, the prospectus said.
L’Occitane estimates it will earn a net profit of at least 73.8 milllion euro ($99.1 million) for the year ending March 2010, the document said. Its planned Hong Kong listing is part of a trend by high-end retailers battered by financial turmoil in the United States and Europe to turn their attention to the burgeoning Asian market, where the vast economies of India and China have continued to post impressive growth rates. afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\25\story_25-4-2010_pg5_19
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